Aggression

Martha Putallaz, PhD, is Professor of Psychology at Duke University, where she joined the faculty in 1983. Dr. Putallaz is a long-standing researcher in the field of children's social development and peer relationships. Most recently, she has been Principal Investigator of a comprehensive study of aggression and social rejection among middle childhood girls, funded by the National Institute of Mental Health. She is also a codirector of the Carolina Consortium on Human Development and the executive director of Duke's Talent Identification Program.

Karen L. Bierman, PhD, is Evan Pugh University Professor, Professor of Psychology and Human Development and Family Studies, and Director of the Child Study Center at Pennsylvania State University. Since the 1980s, her research has focused on social-emotional development and children at risk, with an emphasis on the design and evaluation of school-based programs that promote social competence, school readiness, and positive peer relations, and that reduce aggression and related behavior problems. Currently, she directs the Research-based Developmentally Informed (REDI) classroom and home visiting programs, developed in partnership with Head Start programs in Pennsylvania. A clinical psychologist, Dr. Bierman also directs a predoctoral training program in the interdisciplinary educational sciences. Dr. Bierman has served as an educational advisor to organizations including Head Start and Sesame Workshop.

From leading authorities, this book traces the development of female aggression and violence from early childhood through adulthood. Cutting-edge theoretical perspectives are interwoven with longitudinal data that elucidate the trajectories of aggressive girls' relationships with peers, with later romantic partners, and with their own children. Key issues addressed include the predictors of social and physical aggression at different points in the lifespan, connections between being a victim and a perpetrator, and the interplay of biological and sociocultural processes in shaping aggression in girls. Concluding commentaries address intervention, prevention, juvenile justice, and related research and policy initiatives.

From leading authorities, this book traces the development of female aggression and violence from early childhood through adulthood. Cutting-edge theoretical perspectives are interwoven with longitudinal data that elucidate the trajectories of aggressive girls' relationships with peers, with later romantic partners, and with their own children. Key issues addressed include the predictors of social and physical aggression at different points in the lifespan, connections between being a victim and a perpetrator, and the interplay of biological and sociocultural processes in shaping aggression in girls. Concluding commentaries address intervention, prevention, juvenile justice, and related research and policy initiatives.

I. Setting the Stage: Understanding the Development of Gender Differences in Aggression and Antisocial Behavior
1. Aggression in the Context of Gender Development, Eleanor E. Maccoby
2. Biology-Behavior Integration and Antisocial Behavior in Girls, Elizabeth J. Susman and Kathleen Pajer
3. All Things Interpersonal: Socialization and Female Aggression, Carolyn Zahn-Waxler and Nicole Polanichka
II. Aggression and Victimization among Girls in Childhood
4. Relational Aggression in Early Childhood: You Can't Come to My Birthday Party Unless..., Nicki R. Crick, Jamie M. Ostrov, Karen Appleyard, Elizabeth A. Jansen, and Juan F. Casas
5. Girls Who Bully: A Developmental and Relational Perspective, Debra Pepler, Wendy Craig, Amy Yuile, and Jennifer Connolly
6. A Behavior Analysis of Girls' Aggression and Victimization, Martha Putallaz, Janis B. Kupersmidt, John D. Coie, Kate McKnight, and Christina L. Grimes
III. Understanding Antisocial and Related Problem Behaviors in Adolescent Girls
7. Early Disruptive Behaviors Associated with Emerging Antisocial Behavior among Girls, Karen L. Bierman, Carole Bruschi, Celene Domitrovich, Grace Yan Fang, Shari Miller-Johnson, and the Conduct Problems Prevention Research Group
8. Aggression and Antisocial Behavior in Sexually Abused Females, Penelope K. Trickett and Elana B. Gordis
9. A Long-Term Follow-Up of Serious Adolescent Female Offenders, Peggy C. Giordano, Stephen A. Cernkovich, and Allen R. Lowery
10. Trends in Delinquent Girls' Aggression and Violent Behavior: A Review of the Evidence, Meda Chesney-Lind and Joanne Belknap
IV. Girls as Perpetrators and Victims of Abusive and Conflictual Relationships: Adolescence and Adulthood
11. Women's Involvement in Aggression in Young Adult Romantic Relationships: A Developmental Systems Model, Deborah M. Capaldi, Hyoun K. Kim, and Joann Wu Shortt
12. Parenting as an Important Outcome of Conduct Disorder in Girls, Mark Zoccolillo, Daniel Paquette, Rima Azar, Sylvana Côté, and Richard Tremblay
13. When Aggressive Girls Become Mothers: Problems in Parenting, Health, and Development across Two Generations, Lisa A. Serbin, Dale M. Stack, Natacha De Genna, Naomi Grunzeweig, Caroline E. Temcheff, Alex E. Schwartzman, and Jane Ledingham
V. Implications for Policy and Prevention
Commentary 1: Future Directions and Priorities for Prevention and Intervention, Marion K. Underwood and John D. Coie
Commentary 2: Public Policy and the Discovery of Girls' Aggressive Behavior, Kenneth A. Dodge